Apparatus for applying glue to box blanks



April 12, 1966 J. LOPEZ 3,245,379

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING GLUE TO BOX BLANKS Filed Jan. 8. 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR; JOHN L OPE Z April 12, 1966 .1. LOPEZ 3,245,379

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING GLUE TO BOX BLANKS Filed Jan. 8, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. JOHN L OPE Z 4 T TORNE Y5 United States Patent 3,245,379 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING GLUE T0 BOX LANKS B John Lopez, Westfield, N.J., assignor to Universal Corrugated Box Machinery Corporation, Linden, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 250,115 3 Claims. (Cl. 118-250) This invention relates to the art of glue applying equipment, more particularly of the type to apply glue to a moving surface.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention, it is noted that where a glue roller is utilized to transfer glue from a glue pot to the connector flap of a box blank for example, and dust and cardboard trim which are generally present in a corrugated box factory, fall on the glue roller and adhere thereto, if such dust and trim is transferred to the connector flap of the folded box it will prevent proper application of glue to such flap and hence cause improper closure of such box.

Furthermore, such globs of glue, dust and cardboard trim may adhere to the undersurface of the box blank resulting in a disfigured box blank and in addition, such dust and trim may clog the serrations normally present on the surface of the glue roller which are designed to carry the glue for transfer onto the connector flap, thereby preventing proper transfer of glue onto the connector flap so that the flap may not adhere properly when the box is closed.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a glue applying equipment of the above type which is relatively simple in construction, dependable in operation and may readily be disassembled for cleaning without need for any tools and as readily reassembled for use, which will apply a predetermined quantity of glue to a moving surface and will automatically clean the periphery of the glue roller while the latter is operating normally to apply glue to the connector flap of a box blank, for example, and which may readily be adjusted without disassembly to set the quantity of glue as desired.

According to the invention, these objects are accomplished by the arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter described and particularly recited in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the unit,

' FIG. 2 is a sectional View thereof taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an end View taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but on a larger scale and showing the glue pot and associated mechanism,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the box blank in open position, and

FIGS. 6 and 7 are transverse views partly in section of the scraper blade assembly.

Referring now to the drawings, the gluing unit is of the general type shown in Patent No. 3,062,179 and desirably comprises a glue transfer roller 11 having a flat periphery 12 which preferably is knurled to prevent the glue applied thereto from being discharged as the roller rotates. The periphery of the roller desirably has a plurality of transverse grooves 13, illustratively equally spaced around the circumference of the roller, in the illustrative embodiment shown, eight grooves being provided. The grooves, as shown, each illustratively defines an angle of 90 at its vertex.

As shown in FIG. 2, the roller 11 has a hub 14 secured to a horizontal drive shaft 15 journalled in a bearing block 16 secured to the vertical frame 17 of the equipment in which the gluing unit is incorporated.

Mounted on the frame 17 is a support 18 illustratively a casting having a vertical wall 19 with a plurality of elongated slots 20 therein through which screws 21 extend securely yet adjustably to retain the support on the frame 17.

The support 18 has a ledge 22 extending laterally outward therefrom which mounts the horizontal leg 23 of an -shaped bracket 24, the latter having an opening 25 through which extends a bushing 26, said bushing being rotatably mounted in said opening.

The bushing 26 has an annular flange 27 at one end with a radial threaded bore to receive the correspondingly threaded end of a control rod 29 which serves to rotate said bushing.

The bushing 26 has a bore 31 therethrough displaced from its axis as shown in FIG. 1, to serve as the eccentric mount for a stud shaft 32 which extends therethrough. The shaft 32 has a reduced diameter portion 33 at the extremity thereof extending through the bushing bore 31 and which defines an annular shoulder 34. A pair of washers 35, 36 encompass said reduced diameter portion and straddle said bushing 26, the washer 35 being seated against said shoulder 34.

The bushing 26 and the washers 35, 36 are keyed to the shaft as at 37 and a nut 38 is screwed on the threaded end 39 of said shaft.

Thus, when the nut 38 is tightened, the shaft 32 will be retained in adjusted position as the washer 35 and the flange 27 of the bushing 26 will clamp the vertical leg of the bracket 34 therebetween.

Rotatably mounted on the outer end of shaft 32 is a hub or sleeve 41, bearings 42 serving to mount the hub 41 on said shaft 32.

The hub 41 adjacent its outer end has a plurality of spaced parallel flanges or discs 43, preferably formed integral therewith, which define a presser roller that coacts with the periphery of the transfer roller 11 in the manner hereinafter described.

In the illustrative embodiment shown, the equipment is used to apply glue to the undersurface of connector flap 44 of a box blank B. To guide the flap 44 of the box blank B to be glued, between the rollers 11 and 43, the casting 18 has an inclined outwardly extending ledge 45 desirably formed integral therewith, over which the flap 44 will ride to be presented to the space between said rollers 11 and 43.

Although the drive shaft 15 for the transfer roller 11 may be driven in any suitable manner, in the illustrative embodiment shown, the end of the drive shaft mounts a sprocketwheel 47 which is connected through sprocket chain 48 to sprocket Wheel 49 on the shaft of a drive motor 51 to rotate the transfer wheel in a clockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 1. Desirably, in order to prevent injury to the workman and also to prevent any material from entering the transfer roller, a cover plate 52 is provided which is supported by screws 53 to hang over .the side of said transfer roller 11 as shown in FIG. 2.

Means are provided to apply glue to the transfer roller 11 as it rotates. To this end, the casting 18 has an outstanding ledge 54 desirably formed integral therewith on the side of the roller 11 opposed to the guide ledge 45. Depending from the ledge 54 is a pair of spaced parallel arms 55 and 56 which define a yoke between which is positioned a boss 57 at the top of a glue pot 61.

Extending through aligned openings in the arms 55, 56 and the boss 57 is a headed stud 62 which has an annular groove in its nose end which extends through the opening in arm 55, a split ring 63 being positioned in said groove to retain the stud 62 in position. Thus, the glue pot 61 will be securely yet pivotally mounted between said arms 55, 56.

Means are provided to adjust the pivotal position of said glue .pot 61. To this end the casting 18 has an arm 64 depending therefrom to the right of the glue pct 61 as is shown in FIG. 1. The arm 64 has a threaded bore through which extends a screw 65, the free end of which reacts against a boss 66 on the end 67 of the glue pot, a locking nut 68 being provided to retain the screw in fixed position of adjustment.

The adjustment screw 65 operates in conjunction with a spring-urged plunger 71. To mount the plunger, as shown in FIG. 1, the ledge 54 has a vertical tapped bore 72 aligned with the end of the boss 57. The bore 72 mounts an internally threaded sleeve 73 which may be retained in desired position by a nut 74. The lower end of the bore of the sleeve is of reduced diameter as at 75 to define a shoulder that serves as a stop for the head of the plunger 71, the outer end 71' of which reacts against one end of the boss 57. The plunger 71 is urged outwardly, by a coil spring 76 positioned in the sleeve 73, tension on the spring being set by a screw 77.

As shown in FIG. 1, the glue pot is formed from substantially U-shaped casting which has a top wall 81 on which the boss 57 is mounted, a rear wall 82 and a bottom wall 83, the latter being downwardly inclined with respect to rear wall 82.

Aflixed to the side edges of the walls 81, 82 and 83 as by screws 84, are side plates 85 and 86, the spacing between said walls being such that a portion of the front edges 87 thereof straddles the adjacent side edges 88 of the transfer roller 11.

Affixed as by screws 91 to the free end 92 of bottom wall 83 is a metering blade 93 which extends substantially vertically upwardly and the upper end of which is beveled to form a relatively sharp edge 94, extending the width of the periphery of the trans-fer roller 11, the front edges 87 of the plates 85, 86 extending beyond said edge 94, as shown in FIG. 1.

Each of the side plates 85, 86 has an elongated downwardly inclined recess 95 in its inner surface having its mouth 96 extending from the front edge 87 of the associated plate at the top thereof.

Extending transversely through the glue pot 61 is a shaft 97, one end of which is journalled in an opening in plate 86 and the other end of which extends through an opening in plate 85, said extending end being provided with a central elongated slot 98 therethrough. The shaft 97 has a flat portion 99 to which is secured as by screws 101 a rectangular scraper blade 102 of width substantially equal to the width of the glue pot, said scraper blade desirably having a plurality of openings 104 therethrough adjacent its free end to permit passage of glue and to enhance the mixing of the glue in the pot.

Means are provided resiliently to urge the free end 103 of the scraper blade 102 against the periphery of the transfer roller 11. To this end, a leaf spring is provided, one end of which fits in the elongated slot 98 in the extending end of shaft 97 and the other end of which extends between two pins 104 extending laterally outward from one end of an adjustment strip 105' extending parallel to and along the side wall 85. The adjustment strip 105' has an elongated slot extending longitudinally thereof adjacent its other end through which extends the end of a headed screw 106, the latter being threaded into a correspondingly threaded opening in side wall 85. The head of the screw 106 has an actuating rod 107 extending therethrough to facilitate rotation of the screw so that the adjustment strip may be moved as desired to change the tension of leaf spring 105.

Means are provided to charge the glue pot 61. To this end the plate 86 for example, has an opening 108 in which is secured one end of a laterally extending pipe 109, the outer end of which has an elbow 111 secured 4 thereto, the vertical leg of which has a conical receptacle 112 rising therefrom.

Secured to the frame 17 of the equipment is an airtight reservoir 113 which has a nipple 114 at its lower end to which a valve 115 is secured, a feed pipe 116 extending from said valve into the receptacle 112 and the elbow 111 to near the bottom of the latter. In addition, a vent pipe 117 is provided which extends from the top of the reservoir 113 into the receptacle 112 parallel to the feed pipe 116, the end of the vent tube being located adjacent the end of the feed pipe.

The unit thus described is mounted so that the flap 44 of the open box blank B advanced by a suitable conveyer such as the type shown in co-pending application Serial No. 745,979, filed July 1, 1958 and now Patent No. 3,122,069, issued Feb. 25, 1964, will ride up the ledge 45 to be positioned between rollers 11 and 43.

To set up the equipment for operation, the reservoir 113 is charged with a suitable glue and then closed. When the valve 115 is opened, the glue will flow into the receptacle 112 and then flow through pipe 109 into the glue pot 61 to charge the latter. Flow of glue will cease when the lower end of the vent pipe 117 is covered which will prevent any air from entering into the reservoir 113 and hence prevent further discharge of glue therefrom. Thus, the level of the glue in the glue pot will automatically be maintained.

The screw 65 is adjusted to pivot the glue pot 61 against the tension of spring urged plunger 71 so that the edge 94 of the metering blade 93 is at a distance from the periphery of the transfer roller 11 to provide the desired quantity of glue thereon.

By reason of the viscosity of the glue, substantially none will drip between the periphery of the roller 11 and the edge 94 of the metering blade 93 and by reason of the close tolerance between the plates 85, 86 and the side edges 88 of the roller 11 therebetween, substantially no leakage will occur at such regions. In the event there should be some slight leakage of glue, it will be collected into a pan 120 positioned beneath the gluing unit.

The pressure of the scraper blade 102 against the periphery of the transfer roller 11 is adjusted by loosening the screw 106 and sliding the adjustment strip 105' to desired position. This will cause more or less tension to be exerted on the leaf spring 105 and hence through the shaft 97 against the scraper blade 102, the free end of which presses against the transfer roller.

The presser roller 43 is adjusted by rod 29 so that the distance between the rollers 11 and 43 will be sufficient to effect advance of the flap 44 therebetween, yet without unduly compressing such flap and squeezing off the glue applied to the undersurface thereof.

As the roller 11 is rotated at the same rate of speed as the box blanks are advanced, the periphery of the roller 11 will advance through the glue pot 61 and the edge 94 of blade 93 will provide a layer of glue on the knurled periphery of the roller 11 of desired thickness. As the roller 11 continues its rotation in a clockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 1, it will advance such glue until it reaches the undersurface of the flap 44 which will be pressed by the roller 43 against such roller 11 to apply glue to the undersurface of the flap 44 so that the latter may be secured to the panel P of the box blank B when the latter is folded by the equipment described in said patent application aboveidentified.

As the roller 11 continues its rotation and presses between the side plates 85, 86 of the glue pot 61, any glue adhering to the side edges 88 of the roller 11 will be scraped therefrom as such edges 88 move by the edges 121 of the recesses 95 of said plates, the glue thus scraped off being restored to the glue pot 61.

Furthermore, as the roller 11 continues its rotation, each time that one of the transverse notches 13 is moved into alignment with the spring urged scraper blade 102,

the free end of the latter will enter the notch and then be moved outwardly therefrom as the roller rotates further. By reason of the speed of rotation of the transfer roller and the number of notches therein, the constant movement of the scraper blade into and out of the notches will cause the scraper blade to vibrate substantially continuously and consequently the scraper blade 102 will clean the surface of the roller to remove any hardened dust or car-board trim adhering thereto.

In addition, as the trailing edges of the notches in roller 11 strike the scraper blade 102, any build-up of material on the edge of the scraper blade will be dislodged so that the roller 11 will be cleaned by the scraper blade 102 and the scraper blade 102 will be cleaned by the roller 11.

The equipment above described may readily be cleaned by a simple adjustment. Thus, the valve 115 is closed and the adjustment screw 65 is rotated to move it outwardly to cause the glue pot 61 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction so that the glue therein will spill from the glue pot into the drip pan 120 therebelow.

After the glue pot is emptied, with the transfer roller 11 still rotating, the glue pot is then moved back to its original position by rotation of the adjustment screw and hot water, for example, is poured into the conical receptacle 112 so as to enter the glue pct 61. After a short period the glue pot 61 is again pivoted in a counterclockwise direction to empty the water and the residue into the drip pan and thereupon the equipment may be stopped and the emptied glue pot removed by merely removing the single pivot pin 62 and the glue pot may then be positioned in a suitable bucket for complete cleaning.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently Widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limited sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: v

1. Glue applying equipment comprising a glue transfer roller having a plurality of grooves therein extending transversely across the periphery thereof parallel to its axis, a presser roller associated therewith and positioned above the latter, means rotatably mounting said rollers for rotation thereof in opposite directions about parallel axes, means to drive said transfer roller, a glue pot positioned laterally of said transfer roller and having a mouth with a pair of spaced parallel side walls adapted to straddle the side edges of a relatively small portion of the periphery of the transfer roller with relatively little clearance therebetween to clean the ends of said transfer roller, means to meter the quantity of glue carried by said transfer roller from said glue pot upon rotation of said transfer roller, and means in said glue pot to clean the periphery of said transfer roller as the latter rotates, said cleaning means comprising a scraper blade inclined toward the trailing portion of the periphery of said transfer roller and having an edge extending parallel to the axis of the transfer roller and means resiliently retaining said edge against the periphery of the transfer roller, whereby when said roller is rotated and the edge of said blade is moved into and out of said grooves the blade will vibrate to enhance the cleaning of the roller.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which a shaft extends through said glue pot parallel to the axis of the transfer roller, one end of said shaft extending through one of the side walls of the glue pot and said scraper blade being secured at one end to said shaft, the other end of said blade having said edge, a leaf spring is secured at one end to said extending end of the shaft and extends parallel to said side wall, a slidable mount for the other end of said leaf spring, whereby the tension on said leaf spring may be adjusted and means to lock said slidable mount in set position.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said glue pot has a top wall, an end wall and a bottom wall, said spaced parallel side walls being secured to the side edges of said top, end and bottom walls, a support positioned above said glue pot, a pivotal connection between said support and said top Wall, resilient means reacting against the glue pot to urge the latter about its pivotal mount in one direction, an adjustment screw reacting against said glue pot to urge the latter in the opposite direction, said metering means comprising a blade secured to the bottom Wall and having an edge extending parallel to the axis of said transfer roller, rotation of said screw pivoting said glue point to move the edge of said blade toward and away from the periphery of said transfer roller to regulate the quantity of glue thereon.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 904,231 11/ 1908 Schou. 1,141,311 6/1915 Brogan 118259 X 1,170,520 2/1916 Erickson et al. 1,192,380 7/1916 Brackett 118-261 X 1,461,461 7/1923 Shofter. 1,793,082 2/1931 Goss. 1,880,078 9/1932 Eisner. 2,213,117 8/1940 Blackmore 118259 X 2,363,817 11/1944 Taylor 118-203 X 2,979,783 4/1961 Whitehurst 15256.5 1 3,062,179 11/ 1962 Lopez.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. RICHARD D. NEVIUS, Examiner. 

1. GLUE APPLYING EQUIPMENT COMPRISING A GLUE TRANSFER ROLLER HAVING A PLURALITY OF GROOVES THEREIN EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY ACROSS THE PERIPHERY THEREOF PARALLEL TO ITS AXIS, A PRESSER ROLLER ASSOCIATED THEREWITH AND POSITIONED ABOVE THE LATTER, MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTING SAID ROLLERS FOR ROTATION THEREOF IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS ABOUT PARALLEL AXES, MEANS TO DRIVE SAID TRANSFER ROLLER, A GLUE POT POSITIONED LATERALLY OF SAID TRANSFER ROLLER AND HAVING A MOUTH WITH A PAIR OF SPACED PARALLEL SIDE WALLS ADAPTED TO STRADDLE THE SIDE EDGES OF A RELATIVELY SMALL PORTION OF THE PERIPHERY OF THE TRANSFER ROLLER WITH RELATIVELY LITTLE CLEARANCE THEREBETWEEN TO CLEAN THE ENDS OF SAID TRANSFER ROLLER, MEANS TO METER THE QUANTITY OF GLUE CARRIED BY SAID TRANSFER ROLLER FROM SAID GLUE PORT UPON ROTATION OF SAID TRANSFER ROLLER, AND MEANS IN SAID GLUE POT TO CLEAN THE PERIPHERY OF SAID TRANSFER ROLLER AS THE LATTER ROTATES, SAID CLEANING MEANS COMPRISING A SCRAPER BLADE INCLINED TOWARD THE TRAILING PORTION OF THE PERIPHERY OF SAID TRANSFER ROLLER AND HAVING AN EDGE EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF THE TRANSFER ROLLER AND MEANS RESILIENTLY RETAINING SAID EDGE AGAINST THE PERIPHERY OF THE TRANSFER ROLLER, WHEREBY WHEN SAID ROLLER IS ROTATED AND THE EDGE OF SAID BLADE IS MOVED INTO AND OUT OF SAID GROOVES THE BLADE WILL VIBRATE TO ENHANCE THE CLEANING OF THE ROLLER. 